First Class Lounge to open in LA Union Station?

[guest in the west]

They only kick out those who aren't traveling ie the homeless. The lounge will be located above the ticketing windows upstairs. Coach passengers have a legit reason for being there so they would be fine.

Thanks for making all of this clear.

Between 1 and 4 a.m., I can't imagine there would be any sleeper or BC pax hanging around unless there was some unusual circumstance (well, maybe not THAT unusual) of a very, very late CS or PS into the station or an equipment screw-up on the SSL where it ended up not leaving LAUS until the wee hours of the morning.

 

[calwatch]

Security has done a decent job of kicking out homeless people and regular Metro riders out of the station seats in the past, though. I guess they didn't want to patrol the whole expanse, but there are overnight buses that leave for Bakersfield and Santa Ana, plus the Metro Rail's last trip is at 2 am on weekend nights with trains arriving until almost 3 am. Certainly for bus passengers, they will probably be directed to wait at the benches outside the station instead of in the lounge.

 

[gswager]

Saw a sign in LAUS this morning saying effective August 19th, station hours will be changing. Passengers arriving at LAUS between 1AM and 4AM will be directed to the Metropolitan Lounge. Remember, you heard it here first!

Dang! Will miss it by 3 days!

 

[City of Miami]

Cool! I'll be there to board the SWC on 8/25. It'll be nice to have a place to drop my luggage while I go you know where for a bite in the 2 hours between the Bakersfield bus and #4. But wait, dinner will be served on #4, right?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Cool! I'll be there to board the SWC on 8/25. It'll be nice to have a place to drop my luggage while I go you know where for a bite in the 2 hours between the Bakersfield bus and #4. But wait, dinner will be served on #4, right?

John: Yes Dinner is served on #4 but now a days its a Limited Menu.( there will only be 3 choices, usually the Steak, Veggie Pasta and Fish!) You can take the 8PM Slot after the Riverside Stop as it starts to get Dark! Enjoy your Dip Sandwich as a Snack @ you know where! ^_^

 

[gswager]

I'm at LAUS reading the sign carefully. It's not about the Metrpolitan Lounge. It's about designated waiting area for Amtrak passengers within the main waiting room while the building closed.

 

[zephyr17]

Darn.

 

[Bob Dylan]

More of the Famous Amtrak Promises: "Get their Hopes Up and then Let them Down!"

 

[JayPea]

I did talk to the attendant at the Traxx lounge and according to him, a bona fide lounge, located upstairs above the ticketing area, is also going to open this coming Monday.

 

[zephyr17]

If anyone is going to be at LAUS on Monday, please do a scounting expedition to confirm! Inquiring want to know. Particularly this inquiring mind who wants to know if he'll have a place to stash his luggage during the day while waiting for the Southwest Chief next month.

 

[WesternRalFan]

Referring to the bona Fide lounge opening, is that the first Class Metropolitan Lounge being discussed?

 

[leemell]

OK, has anybody been in LAUS today? Is the lounge open?

 

[Guest in the West]

Sometimes it turns out that all you need to do is ask an Amtrak information person rather than engage in endless speculation.

A new LA Metropolitan Lounge will open sometime in September for first-class and business-class passengers, an Amtrak person at the LAUS info desk said today.

The after-hours waiting time notice at the entrance to LAUS and nored in this thread turns out tro have nothing to do with the new lounge. Passengers with a valid reason to be in the station between 1 and 5 am are being directed to a specific small-sized area within the station waiting area and that is completely apart from the upcoming Metropolitan Lounge.

 

[calwatch]

The overnight waiting area should be around the food court and Red Line entrance, where people wait for the redcaps today. Then you could seal off the rest of the station and the entrance hall - people entering from Alameda could be directed to the entrance near Ben and Jerry's and the Amtrak ticket counter (which, as far as I know, will still be open 24/7).

 

[Nathanael]

"A new LA Metropolitan Lounge will open sometime in September for first-class and business-class passengers, an Amtrak person at the LAUS info desk said today."

Bleah. I just hope it actually is "sometime in September". I've been getting burned by missed deadlines the last few years.

 

[Bob Dylan]

The overnight waiting area should be around the food court and Red Line entrance, where people wait for the redcaps today. Then you could seal off the rest of the station and the entrance hall - people entering from Alameda could be directed to the entrance near Ben and Jerry's and the Amtrak ticket counter (which, as far as I know, will still be open 24/7).

So does that mean that the Beautiful Outside Garden Areas on both sides will be Closed between 1AM and 4AM??? Thats where i usually wait for Trains in LAX, beats the Hustle and Bustle of the Waiting room! I've never been Upstairs @ Union Station, wonder if there are Windows in the New Lounge or if it will be Closed in like the Chicago, Washington and New York Lounges??? They seem to follow the Las Vegas Casino Model, No Windows!!! :help:

 

[TinCan782]

Last week while in the main waiting room waiting for the Sunset Limited, noticed a section taped off and cushions pulled up. Is there a refurbishing project beginning that is related to posting of new hours? Or perhaps, they were just collecting "pocket change" from under the cushions!

 

[Sactobob]

The overnight waiting area should be around the food court and Red Line entrance, where people wait for the redcaps today. Then you could seal off the rest of the station and the entrance hall - people entering from Alameda could be directed to the entrance near Ben and Jerry's and the Amtrak ticket counter (which, as far as I know, will still be open 24/7).

So does that mean that the Beautiful Outside Garden Areas on both sides will be Closed between 1AM and 4AM??? Thats where i usually wait for Trains in LAX, beats the Hustle and Bustle of the Waiting room! I've never been Upstairs @ Union Station, wonder if there are Windows in the New Lounge or if it will be Closed in like the Chicago, Washington and New York Lounges??? They seem to follow the Las Vegas Casino Model, No Windows!!! :help:

When I was at LA Union Station last month, and peeked into see the new first class lounge under construction, I was pleased to see that there are windows on the East side, looking out toward the tracks and platforms. You should be able to see the Metro Gold Line light rail trains go right past the windows on a regular basis.

 

[Bob Dylan]

The overnight waiting area should be around the food court and Red Line entrance, where people wait for the redcaps today. Then you could seal off the rest of the station and the entrance hall - people entering from Alameda could be directed to the entrance near Ben and Jerry's and the Amtrak ticket counter (which, as far as I know, will still be open 24/7).

So does that mean that the Beautiful Outside Garden Areas on both sides will be Closed between 1AM and 4AM??? Thats where i usually wait for Trains in LAX, beats the Hustle and Bustle of the Waiting room! I've never been Upstairs @ Union Station, wonder if there are Windows in the New Lounge or if it will be Closed in like the Chicago, Washington and New York Lounges??? They seem to follow the Las Vegas Casino Model, No Windows!!! :help:

When I was at LA Union Station last month, and peeked into see the new first class lounge under construction, I was pleased to see that there are windows on the East side, looking out toward the tracks and platforms. You should be able to see the Metro Gold Line light rail trains go right past the windows on a regular basis.

Great! Thank you!!!

 

[rickycourtney]

I'm a visual learner, so I tried to make a map of the changes as I understand them... (feel free to point out where I'm wrong or if anyone has any first hand knowledge.)

The purple box is where the elevator up to the future Metropolitan Lounge is located.

The red boxed area (the main waiting room) will be closed from 1-4am (along with the historic ticketing area, which is not currently open to the public.)

The green boxed area (the seating area in concourse) will remain open to Amtrak passengers during the overnight hours.

The blue line is the path passengers will take from West (Alameda) entrance to the waiting area in the concourse. It also maintains access to the tunnel under the train tracks, the portal to the Red/Purple Line station, Amtrak ticketing and Amtrak bus area.

If this is the how the station works... the overnight situation sounds like a good compromise. It closes off a large portion of the historic waiting room, which should make it easier for security to control who is in the station during the overnight hours. But it still maintains an area for passengers to wait and access to the major services at the station (and both patios!)



Tip of the hat to LOSSAN for their awesome Union Station Map, check out their awesome brochure here.

Oh, and please excuse my mediocre Photoshop skills.

 

[AKA]

Very nice, good job.

 

[trainman74]

The red boxed area (the historic waiting room and ticketing area) is the area of the station closed from 1-4am.

The "historic ticket area" is always closed to passengers (except for certain special occasions such as National Train Day).

 

[rickycourtney]

The red boxed area (the historic waiting room and ticketing area) is the area of the station closed from 1-4am.

The "historic ticket area" is always closed to passengers (except for certain special occasions such as National Train Day).

Point taken. I'll edit my original post. I wanted to shade it the same color to show how much of the station will remain open.

 

[calwatch]

This post has a drawing of the area covered under the overnight closure, consistent with what was posted above - - and includes some hyperbolic complaining over the situation: http://la.streetsblog.org/2013/08/21/as-union-station-makes-changes-will-they-consider-the-people-who-use-it/

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Last week while in the main waiting room waiting for the Sunset Limited, noticed a section taped off and cushions pulled up. Is there a refurbishing project beginning that is related to posting of new hours? Or perhaps, they were just collecting "pocket change" from under the cushions!

Dang! Boardman sure has taken maximizing revenue to a new level!

James Hill might have even been able to learn something from him!